In a bid to get rid of anonymous trolls, Australia to come up with new laws

One major disadvantage of social media is that it allows massive trolling based on anonymity, hampering the mental health of many people. However, now many countries are introducing laws that will allow breaking the barrier of anonymity, thus stopping online trolling.

The Australian government has been examining new legislation to tackle the problem of online trolls. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that under the new law, social media giants will be required to provide details of users who post defamatory comments.

"The online world should not be a wild west where bots and bigots and trolls and others are anonymously going around and can harm people," Morrison said at a press briefing.

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He added, "That is not what can happen in the real world, and there is no case for it to be able to be happening in the digital world."

'Complaints mechanism,' will be a major highlight of the new legislation. This means if somebody thinks that they have been defamed or bullied on any social media platform, they will be able to require the platform to take the material down.

Digital platforms,these online companies, must have proper processes to enable the takedown of this content," Morrison said.

"They have created the space and they need to make it safe, and if they won't, we will make them (through) laws such as this."

Social media giants will also be required to set up online customer shopfronts in Australia. This will ensure that they comply with orders as part of the measures.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the British government examined new legislation to tackle online abuse, as internet "trolls" might face two years in prison for words or material that cause "psychological injury."

This was a result of high-profile internet abuse cases involving sports journalists and Premier League sportsmen. The Department for Culture, Media and Sports then adopted suggestions from the Law Commission to base offences on "probable psychological injury."

(With inputs from agencies)